57. How to Cultivate Faith in Today's World and despite Life's Challenges: A Conversation with Annie Mayfield

In this episode, I have the pleasure of speaking with Annie Mayfield as she shares her faith journey. We explore the power of a personal relationship with God, the importance of community, and the role of faith in navigating life's challenges.

Key Takeaways:

• The Personal Nature of God: God knows us intimately and has a unique plan for each of us.
• The Power of Faith: Faith is more than belief; it's a lifestyle that impacts every aspect of our lives.
• The Importance of Community: Connecting with other believers is essential for spiritual growth and encouragement.
• The Transformative Power of God's Word: The Bible is a powerful tool for spiritual growth and guidance.
• The Beauty of Ordinary Life: God can use everyday moments to shape us and prepare us for His purposes.

Call to Action:

•  Consider your own current challenges and struggles. Might these experiences be a call from God to grow closer to Him and draw peace from His presence? 
• Connect with a faith community and find a mentor: Seek out a supportive community of believers who can encourage and challenge you. Schedule a Discovery Call and begin your journey with God today!
• Prioritize time with God: Spend time in prayer, meditation, and Bible study.
• Embrace the ordinary: Find God in the everyday moments of your life.

Connect with Annie:

• Podcast: Made to Shine
• Instagram: @anniebmayfield
• Check out Annie's Books

Scripture References:

• Jeremiah 1:5
• Esther 4:14

Let's continue the conversation! Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below.

Thanks for listening! Your support means the world. Join our Curious for Christ Facebook Group and become an Insider for weekly inspiration and encouragement.

Transcript

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Welcome to curious for Christ. Whether you were raised in a Christian faith or founded on your own. Our relationship with God is deeply personal and unique for each of us. And so today's episode is for everyone navigating that journey. My special guests, the vibrant Annie Mayfield. She has her story of how heartbreak. Brought her closer to God. And then the lessons she's learned along the way, we'll dive into spiritual practices. You can apply. This goes to the role of technology and explore the importance. Of community, even in the face of church hurts. Anime field is a six time Amazon best-selling author and a corporate account executive. She's also the host of the Maita shine podcast, which has listeners in over 72 countries. And it was among Spotifies top 10%, most stream podcasts in 2023. Featured in Forbes and at NYC journal, Annie is dedicated to inspiring the younger generation to embrace their divine worth and let their spirits shine. She graduated from Wofford college with a bachelor of science in psychology. Where she also played tennis and ran track. So. Without further ado, let's get into this inspiring conversation with Annie. Welcome to curious for Christ. Do you ever find yourself lying awake at night? Wondering about God's plan for your life. Maybe you wake up with big dreams, but feel unsure where to start or what your next step should be. If you're curious about exploring your faith and finding purpose, then you've come to the right place. Hi, I'm Monica, Sandra. I too felt lost unsure of the direction my life was taking. I yearned to understand my purpose and have someone guide me. But I kept telling myself I was too busy, the timing wasn't right. And my lack of clarity prevented me from being consistent until I found Christ. He brought peace into my life and we field the way to find purpose by anchoring myself. In him. In this podcast, we'll journey together, exploring the Bible to gain a deeper understanding of him. and cultivate your own personal relationship with Christ. So open up your Bible, put in those ear buds and listen up because God is speaking to you. He is making everything new and you don't want to miss it. Let's get started. And it's such a pleasure to have you. You're very young. You have an extensive curriculum. You've done so much. And what I'm most interested in right off the bat is, could you please tell us your F. A. C. E. story? How did you come to F. A. C. E.? And if you've had any challenges along the way, how did F. A. C. E. help you overcome? Oh my gosh, what a great question. And I love that question because everyone has a story, right? And when I think about recently, what's been on my heart with God is God is such a personal God. And what I love about that is, Jeremiah 1 5, like before I formed you, I knew you before you were born. I set you apart. And so even right off the bat, that question, it reminds me that my story is my own and yours is yours. And everyone listening in has their own. For me, I, and I say that because growing up, I was blessed with parents that were believers for sure. But I think that there's a difference between believing in the Lord and really following Him. Him being an ingredient in your life versus the cornerstone of your life. And I'm so blessed with my parents. They had such a personal relationship with the Lord which was modeled to me in my, Three siblings and one of four. My mom had four kids all under the age of four. And so it was just like chaos in our house. So we needed the Lord for sure. But all that to say, growing up church was something that. We went to when we could but what I thought was so cool about what my parents really modeled was God is with you in everything that you do. And because of that, I played sports growing up. And so like I played college tennis, so I'm tennis court. God is with you on the cross country track. Erfield, God is with you. So God is with you in all that you do. I would say personally, it wasn't until I hit college that I really experienced I experienced a really hard breakup with a relationship. As we all, when we fall in love, it's this is going to last forever. I had that mindset. And when we broke up about halfway through college, I remember there was a season where a lot of people were like, I was so upset and people were encouraging me like to, to party, find someone new date, all these things. And I tried it. I tried it. Like I tried to numb out the pain. I tried to run away from the heartbreak and just fill myself with other avenues. And that's when I really, I understood I feel like the essence of nothing could fill me but God. And I had loved God my entire life. There was never a season where I was like, I hate God. I don't want to get to know God. Nothing like that. I've always loved God, but in God's kindness, I really leaned in that broken time and was like, Whoa Lord, I love you, but I'm not following you. There's a difference between belief and faith. Belief is you think something's true. Faith is you think something's so true, it impacts your actions. And we're called to have faith in Jesus. And the way I live my life was I believed in Jesus, but I didn't let an impact my life. It wasn't impacting the way I interacted with my boyfriends, with my friends, with the way that I just live my life, in regards to like always telling the truth and being honest it didn't impact that. And so I think all that to say it was really in college when I was broken, I realized. something beautiful with these broken pieces. And I leaned into that. And I think from there, It really grew into I always say, so many people mistake God with religion, and following rules and being perfect with the rule following. That's not our God. Our God craves a relationship with you, and from that relationship comes a transformation of your heart. That desires to do what he says is good for you, but it's the order of operations. So I think once he had my heart, he transformed it to now, like my life, the actions, the, what I write about, what I speak about my own podcast, right? Like all these things, the conversations. Curious for Christ, your podcast. I was like, yes, I would love to do that because the conversations I love to have are centered around him. Not because I have to, because I'm afraid he's going to be mad at me if I don't, but because I desire to, because I love my father. And so I would say that shift from always loving God, but then him impacting the way I live my life really came around college years. Yes, it often happens, it's the truth, the true test of faith. And I think that also in the broken pieces of ourselves, we see not only what we allow God a little bit deeply into our hearts so that we can be transformed a little bit more. And all the things that are missing God reveals in those places of brokenness. So definitely so what practices do you have today or what, how did you get back to God? What was your process during that time of deep sorrow? I love that. I love that question because it reminds me almost of people because when people like want to get back to the Lord or deepen their relationship with the Lord, it's the same thing we see with other things. If they want to increase their fitness or in their nutrition, they take these massive steps, it's okay, I'm going to read my Bible for two hours every morning. And that's the equivalent of saying, I don't work out at all and then I go to the gym seven days a week. You know what I mean? What I found is God will always meet you where you find joy. And what I mean by that is the first step, I think, to deepening your relationship with the Lord is look at the areas of your life you love doing and invite God into that. And what that looked like for me. Is when I was heartbroken, like just heartbroken in college. And when I say heartbroken, to add some context I think we hear that. And everybody's heartbreak is personal. You know what I mean? No heartbreaks the same. And so for me, what that looks like is I really couldn't sleep. I couldn't eat. All I could do was I loved running. It got, it just, it got everything out. I felt like I did something. I felt like I had. And in a way, you could say it was like I was running away from my problems, but really running was where I was meditating on what I was feeling and what I wasn't just gonna, I wasn't the kind of girl was just going to sit there and twiddle my thumbs and think about what I was feeling like during a run is when I process that and I invited God into And so I remember I was like, okay, I love to run. I just feel this inclination. Like maybe instead of listening to country music, we listen to worship music. That's how it started. It was like, let's just listen to worship music. And then the run started to, okay, maybe the first two miles we listened to worship music, but then the last four or six, we listened to a sermon. And I actually, the church I go to now in Atlanta, that pastor was the pastor I listened to in that time, which is so funny. But. Maybe we listened to a sermon. And so I always say, it's like, if I had started with, okay, I need to heal. I need to lean in the Lord. I'm going to carve out two hours in the day and just sit and read my Bible. I probably wouldn't have stuck with that, but what I ended up doing was just inviting him into what was already happening in my day, putting on worship music in the car versus pop, listening to worship music versus cut. Yeah, exactly. It's if you, you said you're a mom, right? You have a son, you have a daughter. It's putting index cards of scripture around the house when you're doing laundry. It's like, where can you bring God into what you're already doing versus adding in a bunch of stuff that isn't going to last long term? So that's what it looked like for me. And that's what I would encourage people to do. It's like just simple things like, what can you just invite him into and make it almost, it's like a date with God. And then from there, you can just It grew. And so yeah, like now I crave, and it's not a long, but like every morning for 20 minutes before I start my day, I'm in the word that is non negotiable, but it didn't start like that. I actually was terrified of the Bible. I thought it was too stupid to understand the Bible. I always relied on preachers to explain the Bible to me. I didn't start reading the Bible until a couple of years ago. And, but all that to say now that's part of my day. But it didn't start that way. And so I would say the way it started is just inviting him into what already was. That's very clever. Yeah. And I do understand moving my body really helps me also focus my mind while when we're still our bodies are still, that's when the mind's racing. So I think you understand. Yeah. Yeah. You've got to just it's funny. Preacher once said this and I thought it was so good in regards to how prayer works and he used the illustration of if you go to a lake house or a beach house You guys are in florida If you go to beach house And you haven't been to that house in a while and you turn on the faucet the water is going to be a little brown it's gonna be a little gross But you just got to let it keep flowing and eventually it will clear up and he's that's how prayer works When you first start praying, A lot of times, more confusion will come, less clarity will come, but you keep letting it flow, and that's when the understanding, the clarity, the ah ha's come, and when you couple that, I think, with movement, it's deadly. It's a deadly combo. So I'm so with you. I think movement, it just, it really does, it helps get things, Flowing and you feel a little bit lighter than you did if you're just sitting there ruminating, Or being outside and seeing God's nature God's create. Yes a great way to Yes him and to commute with him to be with him. So true Very good. Thank you for that. I also see that you have a passion for the younger generations, and I do too. I have two children. One is 13, so a teenager, full blown. Actually, he's just turned 14. My bad. Let's go! That's awesome! Again, moving. And my daughter's 13. So I do spend a lot of time with their friends. And so I do care about the youth as well. And I do see a difference between how I grew up. Of course. Just times change at a faster pace than ever. The temptations are there with social media and all of that. But I'm curious to see about your experience. What aspects of faith do you see in the. Upcoming generation that gave you hope and encouragement, especially the positive before we talk about that, but what do you, what are you more hopeful, the most hopeful for the most encouraged by when you look at the youth? Again, such a great question. I think what I love. So I work with a group of middle schoolers at my church and they keep me so humble. It's actually really cool how the church I go to does it. You're with them all three years until they go to high school. So I just did around the middle schoolers. I went to high school and now I'm back with sixth graders. And even the different, I say that because the difference between even me, I'm 26. When I was with my last group of middle schoolers, I was like, wow, there's a big difference between me and them. But now the difference between the sixth graders I have now, and now the ninth graders that I used to have is also drastically different. And you just see all these changes. Good and hard, but all that to say, I think the good and hard are two different sides of the same coin. And what I mean by that is I think the elephant in the room that everybody thinks about with this younger generation is social media and just media in general. Like they're it's the screen era, it's like they're always on screens, all this stuff. And I, starting with the positive I get really passionate about offering the perspective. I think we're so quick to poo screens and poo Instagram and poo Tik Tok. What I've seen with this younger generation coming up is that for the first time ever, they're plugged in. And what I mean by that is you and I, this podcast could With Instagram, TikTok show up on a seventh graders feed somehow, and we're talking about Christ for the first time ever, it is so easy to spread light to a kid's life, a kid's, you know what they're looking at. More so really than ever before now. The other side of that is the flip side's true. There's a lot of darkness on media. A lot of consumption of things that are not good. But I think that goes back to that's why it's so important you have this podcast. It's so important the people shining light about Jesus on media stay in media. I get so scared when I hear Christians or Jesus followers say, we can't be a part of media. Like we, that's the devil. That's darkness. It's we're called to be the light of the world. Like these kids tuning in, they're tuning in. We can't change that. But are we going to bring the light to where they're at? That's the question we have for people that. Are creating light filled content online. And the other thing I'll say about that, that I think is so encouraging about this generation is they're so curious. I see and I talked about this with my grandma, not too long ago, her generation, they're very loyal. I think we can learn so much from their generation. It's you believe this because it's true because your dad said it was true. Cause your mom said it was true. And you don't ask questions. That's just what it is. And they're just so loyal. We need to learn that from them. But I think though, that a lot of people could learn from this younger generation is the power of asking questions. Jesus loved the disciples questions. He loved it. The difference between a seed that, that, is falls on good soil and the seed that falls on not good soil is like really what he was saying. There is the power of leaning in. Like when you don't understand, do you care enough to ask me what I mean by that? And the disciples did, I think in classes where I really didn't care. Enough to ask a question. I learned nothing in that class, but the classes where I was so absorbed, so consumed, I had so many questions because the more I knew, the more I realized I don't know. And this younger generation is not afraid to say, what do you mean Jesus rose from the dead? What's the big bang theory? How does this line up with scripture? I got that question last Sunday, but what's so cool about that is we have a religion, we have a God, we have a Bible that aligns with those questions and can empower those questions, can answer those questions. Whereas a lot of religions can't. And so what I'm encouraged by is. How curious they are. I'm encouraged by the fact they're plugged into one place. And the opportunity there is we can meet them there in a way that we, no one could before, where I think there needs to be a challenge for this younger generation is learning from those that went before us so many things. But I think one of the most important things is commitment. And loyalty. I'm reading screw tape letters right now, or I'm listening to it on audio. And like the enemy great book, the enemy's tactics. It's don't even get into an argument with Christians. Don't try to get them to think is Christ real or not just distract them. Then they won't even have time to think about the bigger questions of is God real? Or did Christ really die and rise again? So I could have life with God don't even. Get them to that point. That's a dangerous point. Just get them distracted. Distract them with food. Distract them with media. Distract them. Distract them. That's my concern. Is that We have a chance to meet them, but what's their capacity to hold on to that light with all the distractions going on? Yeah So the struggle would be or the challenge for us would be to regain that focus and to Let them decide what they want to consume and where they want to find to use the technology as a way to find answers to their questions and to learn something. So that's pretty amazing that before you had to go to university to learn something. Now you can let your fingertip learn whatever you want to know. Let's ask the good questions for them. That's really, that's great. And also it reminds me of Esther, the book of Esther, who says, perhaps I am here for such a time as this. I think that you mentioned, a lot of people of our generation, or a bit older, are afraid of technology, but how about we, with God lean in and see how we can actually navigate this and make it a powerful tool. It's, and you use that word tool. I want to emphasize that. Cause I love that you said that word tool, something that was on my heart. I wanted to say, it was like, we have always. In society, this is not the first time we've had something really powerful that people are making a god or making an idol money is a really good tool, really bad. God sex, it's a gift from God. Really bad. God, though. All you know, like all that to say. Idolizing. Your busyness. Your busyness. We live in such a day and age. I remember in college, I just could not get over the fact. People would say, yeah, I got no sleep last night. I've just been so busy studying as a badge of honor. Like we idolize our busyness. We think we're only as important as we are. Busy. And social media? Same thing. Same thing. Really great tool. Really bad God. Follower count likes all that really bad God. And I think that if we can. Not everyone because not everybody's gonna, receive the message. But if we can just shine light and be faithful that there's someone on the other end that's going to be watching, that's going to learn, Hey, this is a really powerful tool that I can shine light with, but it's not my God. My God is above this. My God's above me. My God's above the light that I could shine through my heart. He is the God that is light. And that is love. You know what I mean? And so I think it's like redefining that message and understanding what is social media. It's not our God. is a tool and just coming back to that recognition. Yes. Very nice. Thank you. We've noticed that the younger generation is not as interested in church the way that we know it. The Bible does mention the importance of church and what it is, based on the foundation of Jesus being the head. We are the body. It's very important and social media offers a certain form of community. Be safe. It feels like you're plugged in and connected, but there's, there is a role that the church still plays that no other tool or no other place can replace. So what do you, what advice would you give to the younger generation to or have you noticed that they leave and what is the reason behind it? Oh my gosh. So many reasons. That's such a good question. I actually want to start with like my testimony with the church because when I graduated college, I graduated during COVID. And I came back and things were weird, and it's weird when I've grown up in Atlanta my entire life. And then I wasn't expecting to move back to Atlanta. I wanted to go somewhere new. But when COVID hit, I had to go back with my parents and graduate my senior year. In their house, and it's funny when you go back to a place you've known for years, but it's a brand new place. And your high school friends, you're no longer you don't have the same value. So it's okay, I'm in the place I grew up in, but it's a brand new world. So I have to make new friends. And church came into that. And I remember being very tempted to go to church. I was scared to go to church. I was scared of church people. I'll be the first to say it, but I loved my relationship with the Lord. I loved how I believed God loved me. And no, I'm not perfect, but I believe like his love was greater than my shame. And I was really scared of going to the church. And cause I'm very sensitive and I was afraid, I guess my vision of church and church people is you look perfect on Sunday. You come to basically show off how perfect your life is instead of treating church like a hospital where you can come with your brokenness. And I was like, I know how broken I am. I know God is loves me, but I don't know if his people will. And I remember I didn't even start going to my church, going to the church. I started as a volunteer in the kids ministry, in middle school, in the middle school ministry. Cause I was like, I don't think middle schoolers are going to judge me for my brokenness. So I would go. And then I'd go home and watch the adult service online. Like I had that much of a trust issue with like church adults. And what I'll say is now my life, like just taking a one step at a time. I remember there was a young adults event and I went to that event. It wasn't at church. It was just the event. And then I started making some friends and we went to the one church of service together. And now my life, what I would say is like. The pain of putting yourself out there, of seeing what the church has got, of the awkwardness of making friends and not knowing every, anyone, and sitting by yourself and maybe getting judged because you look a certain way or act a certain way or whatever have you. The pain of that is so much less than the pain of feeling isolated and alone and not known by anybody. God knows you. I think we have a lot of people that Believe that and they believe in a personal relationship with the Lord. They're scared of church And church hurt I once heard it put there's no such thing as church hurt. It's people hurt You're gonna get people hurt no matter where you go because people are imperfect But don't mistake people hurt with god hurt because when you walk away from the church You're not walking away from god because god goes with you when his spirit is in you But you need his people more than you think you do. And now my life, like I, I met my boyfriend through church. I met my best friends through church. Like my life looks so different in the best of ways because of that willingness to just let it be awkward for a first, for the first few, a couple of times, not knowing anybody sitting by yourself are they going to judge me or if they're not. And you need it. You need it. You need community. And even I think I'm talking with my friends that, that don't believe in God and don't go to church. Like what they're craving is the church and they don't even realize it with what they're craving is the Lord. And they don't even realize it. I would say, let it be awkward. Take the first step. It's going to be scary. And also know that. It's okay if a church doesn't, if you don't fit the first time, not all churches are for me. I found one that I love, but just because you've been to a couple that aren't a fit doesn't mean there's not one that is. And so keep trying it. It's dating. It really is. It's dating. It's Every guy is not for you, but there's one that is. And you got to keep putting yourself out there until you find the fit. And when you do be committed past when people hurt you there, because it's so special to find a church that you feel loved at also knowing it's going to be imperfect. Cause it's filled with people that are imperfect. And so stay there past the people hurt, not the church hurt, the people hurt because God's above the people that are hurting you and loving you. And you don't get the love without the hurt because we live in an imperfect world. Yeah, so true. Actually if we do get hurt it may be a good sign that we're actually going a little bit deeper with people because I love that, so yes. And going for God not for people. And it's basically in our, the way we were created His image in our likeness. He is already relational in his very own nature. God is. So we are too. It's in us. We cannot just be the vertical without having the church and the relationships. There's so many blind spots in us that it's only together that truly we see the fullness of Christ. But I understand. I'm from Europe, so to me being here, I see a lot of cultural influences in the church. I don't, I feel like it's not fully what the Bible talks about, or, I can see it as an outsider, but I'm just being, and I see that being faithful, loyalty, as you mentioned, is loyalty to God and seeing works and really look at. See how God works and how you're going to fix it all because yes, we're broken. We can't but we're so true. And so that first step really gives God the opportunity to work through us. And it's people so true that one time I passed her. He like put two I don't know, canisters or something, clear canisters with beads in it. And he hit them against each other and the beads fell out of the little canisters or whatever. And he said, did these beads come out because this thing hit the other or because that's what was always inside that canister? And he said, And so many times when we get hurt, we think, oh, I got hurt because they hurt me versus saying, no, I got hurt because there's something in me that's hurt. And that's what came out. Anger was in me and that's what came out. Sadness was in me and that's what came out. And I think what the church does, and I'll personally attest to this through working with middle schoolers and some of their parents, and, you, I think you are so at peace and so calm and just filled with goodness until a lot of times the church, the greatest blessing of the church is it offers you a chance to really get a good understanding of what's in here. Because I know like dealing with some people at the church and like some of the hurt I've experienced, I had no idea that hurt was in me that, Anger was in me. That frustration was in me. That pride was in me. And if it wasn't for the church, I would not have known that. And it's a good reminder, like Jesus blood covers all it covers mine. It also covers there. So then, so will I be faithful enough to him to love this person the way he loved me? And you don't learn that if you don't have opposition. I loved what you said about it shows you're growing deeper when you do get hurt. Yeah. So true. Thank you. Thank you for sharing that. And I could not agree more. Definitely. I've seen it all in the church and I do take ownership of my own whatever comes out comes from within. It's been Probably. And as a mom, I definitely also feel. I was about to say, I don't even have kids. I can imagine children are a fast track for that course, but it's a very good analogy motherhood and how God deals with us because of the love you're willing to really look at yourself change, and so it's that love that compels you to make the changes, to be heard, to, to try again and to keep going. And so it's very we do need God and we do need one another. Now, is there anything else you'd like to share with our listeners? Is there anything that you, a message that you'd like to leave us with? I love that. Honestly, what comes to mind? What? Open question. Open question. I love it. What I'd love to share and leave people with is something that I think I wrestled with for such a long time. It's actually the mission of my podcast and why I do what I do. And I think that For so long, I remember when I was in college and I graduated, I had this picture of what it looked like to work for God and to be doing something, doing great things for God and his kingdom. Now, of course, this is supposing that you want to, but for me and my story, and I'm sure people listening to a curious for Christ podcast, they probably are like wanting to be curious enough about Christ to go and do things for him and spread his word and spread his love. Spread his light. And I had this picture of what that looked like. It looked like a preacher. It looked like maybe someone like their business is centered around that and they do that full time and through my own life and what I do. It's like I, I don't know. I always struggle with the question, Annie, what do you do? Because I do. It's a lot of different things. It's like I have a podcast. I write books. I work a full time sales job. There's so many different things that I do. And even in college, like I was on the tennis team and the cross country team, and I was in a sorority and I always felt like I didn't fit. And because I felt like I didn't fit, I felt like there wasn't an avenue. I was really working for God in or shining his light in because there wasn't just one thing. And. What I'm so passionate about reminding people is you have a ministry, no matter what you do, it is the way you shine God's light that he gave you through his spirit and literally every space that you hold. So whether you're a mom of a three year old right now, cleaning poopy diapers and on the side, you're working some like accounting files to make some extra income. You shine your ministry is cleaning that baby's poopy diaper. Poopy butt. It's also doing those accounting files. You know what I mean? It's it's in everything you do. For me, when I write books, yes, I am effective for God, but I am just as effective for God as the way I treat my clients in my corporate job. I am just as effective for God in the way that I listen to my dad when we're having a conversation and I'm listening to listen, not listening to respond. My dad is just effective for God when he's doing law work as he is being a husband to my mom. You have a ministry no matter where you go And I just think so many times people count themselves out of being a light for god because it doesn't look like a preacher It doesn't look like a pastor. It's no it's taking responsibility For where god has you in this season, which is not a mistake He has you there for a reason to teach you things that you're going to need maybe in that next season Maybe that's just teaching you more about him But you have a ministry you have the light of god in you and you are called to go spread it in every area And I just think if we can understand That's how the world changes. It's when your high school or shining light on your campus, a middle school or shining light in your math and taking responsibility for that because it's a blessing that we get a chance to do that. That's great. Thank you so much. And now you mentioned your podcast, you do a lot of things, where can our listeners connect with you, find your books? Yeah. Oh my gosh. After they're done listening to yours, if they ever want to listen to Made to Shine, it's on, anywhere you can find podcasts, it's on Apple Spotify. Spotify, whatever have you and yeah, mission of that podcast is what I just explained. So speaking about a lot of people that do a lot of different things and how they spread the blood of Jesus and what they do, books, anywhere books are sold truly if you just type in my last one was called you matter. It's a devotional and they are reminding you, your worth is not based on what you accomplish or what you do. It's based on what Jesus accomplished for you. And then. Instagram is typically where I hang out. If you just want like day in the life updates Annie B Mayfield on Instagram. And I put all the links in the show notes. So that it's easy for everyone to, to get to, to connect with you. Thank you so much, Annie. What a great time I had with you. And I. Just wish you the best with everything that you do. Those middle schoolers, I know they need you and and everywhere you shine. So thank you so much. Thank you. What you're doing is amazing. I'm so encouraged by anyone who's just spreading the light of Jesus and what they do. So thank you for what you do and thanks everybody for tuning in. I had such a great time with Annie and I hope you enjoyed and felt inspired by her sparkling personality and all the things that she shared about her faith journey. I wanted to leave you with some key takeaways that I gathered from our conversation. Number one, the personal nature of God. God knows us ultimately, and has a unique plan for each of us. Number two, the power of faith. Faith is more than belief. It's a lifestyle. That impacts every aspect of our lives. Number three, the importance of community connecting with other believers is essential for spiritual growth and encouragement. Number four. The transformative power of God's word. The Bible is a powerful tool for spiritual growth and guidance. We have so many podcasts episodes on how to interpret the Bible, go back and listen to those. And lastly, the beauty of ordinary life, God can use everyday moments to shape us and prepare us. For his purpose. So I will leave you with two powerful scriptures. One from Jeremiah one verse five. Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you before you were born. I set you apart. I appointed you as a prophet to the nations. And lastly from Esther for. Verse 14. And who knows, but that you have come to your Royal position for such a time as this we to live in such a time as this, the time that we live in is a time of rapid change. And yet God still has a plan. He is with us and will guide us through these uncertain, swiftly, changing times. So we can navigate them with peace and ease. But we need each other. If you haven't yet joined my Facebook group community, go to bit dot L Y forward slash curious for Christ community. And find a mentor. If you need clarity on how to build a strong foundation with God, schedule a quick discovery call with me. Go to bit dot L Y forward slash curious for Christ discovery. It's bit dot L Y. Curious for Christ discovery. We will talk about where you are in your face journey, the challenges you're facing and how to move forward with clarity and purpose. I look forward to connecting with you in the Facebook group community and speaking with you soon until then. Bye for now. Hi, I hope you enjoy today's episode. If so, would you like to take 30 seconds and share it with a friend who may also struggle with knowing God and his purpose for their life? Also leave. A review on apple podcasts and let me know what topics you'd like to hear about in the future. Your voice matters. I'll meet you back next Friday for another episode.